Category: Italy

One of our favorite sculptures in a city of sculpture, Rome, is still on view, but was vandalized on November 16, 2016.

Gian Lorenzo Bernini designed “Elephant and Obelisk,” which was unveiled in 1667 in the Piazza della Minerva.

The end of the left tusk was broken off by an unknown person. The piece was recovered nearby, and the restoration of the statue is being studied.

The statue is a brief walk south from the Parthenon. If you’re traveling between either the Campo de Fiori or the Largo di Torre Argentina, put it on your itinerary. The elephant was probably executed by an assistant of Bernini. The Egyptian obelisk was discovered in an excavation in Rome.

If you have an update, or if you find the statue unviewable during some future restoration activity, please contact us with information, or about any other site, location and nature of the obstruction or closure.